Tastes a Bit Watered Down...

What do you expect from the guy who's still recovering? 

Well, I am doing better than before. Still some fatigue and chest congestion, but certainly far and above what I was feeling last week. That was like getting blindsided by a semi and then falling into a river- was not fun in the slightest. I'm back at work again and I seem to be functioning. Been working on catching up on posts (I'm still drowning in more to do) and have no buckled down to work on this blog. As it turns out, catching up three weeks worth of a blog?

It's a daunting task.

So much so that I'm afraid this one is going to be a pathetic blog update. I'm going to do what I can, but I have been working on catching up on everything I am behind on and I am quickly draining myself out. Add on the fact that three weeks worth of updating has left a mess that would take more than one day to complete this blog- and well, here we are. I'm sorry it's not up to the usual standard, but I promise that starting next week we're going to get back on track with the quality that Valucre deserves. 

What's Happening Valucre?

The Chosen: Round Three Continues- One fight continues in this thing and after a couple delays we seem to have it back on track and moving about. We might yet see the end of this tournament, ha. Be sure to stop by the lounge and root for your favorites- or to heckle us for being slow.

Genesaris Dark Festival: The Carnival of Despair- If you have not seen this yet, I am going to assume you live under a rock. Seriously, this thing is up and kicking and it's getting quite some activity. Unfortunately it slowed for a few days as I nearly came to a screeching halt, but now that I am back on my feet and posting again you can expect full dedication to the games and threads. Now, what is there to do you might ask? Well, come check this stuff out:

Midway Games:
Guess Witch Box- A snarky witch who insults you via rhyming sticks her head into one of up to twenty five boxes and lets them get all mixed up. You're given a set of rather convoluted clues to try and decipher where it went.
Haunted Maze- Take a stroll through a full size maze and see if you can find your way back out. This event from last year was never defeated- can you be the first? Running into dead ends means facing dangerous undead creatures and the loss of prize tickets as well. Get stuck too many times and you will face some serious creatures and eventual ejection.
Mystery Jars- Care to pick your way through the jars in order to try and find prizes? Most of these jars contain something nasty and gross, but if you're lucky, you can find some nice prize tickets. If you you are unlucky, you might find something much worse.
Rooms of Trial- Take a tour through the strange, macabre and sometimes nightmarish rooms of trial, where you will put your abilities with logic and knowledge to the test, solving riddles and puzzles. Success means moving on to the next room, failure means consequences that become increasingly difficult to endure. Make it through all five rooms and claim your prize at the end.
Whack-a-Zombie- Ever wanted to play a life sized version of whack-a-mole? Ever wanted to do it with a giant sledgehammer and a batch of zombies? Of course you did, and that's why this game exists. Pick your preferred weapon size and come see if you can bash the most zombies.

Attractions/Shows:
Ask a Serial Killer- That creepy psychopath from the year is back and he is full of just as much vitriol as ever. Ask your questions and have your chance at a conversation with the most notorious serial killer in Genesaris history. Just be careful of what you ask to hear- you might not like what you get in response.
Questionable Treats- Do you dare take a bite of these treats? They look any manner of gross to delicious and they all smell wonderful- but beware, only a handful are treats, a few prizes, and the rest are something nasty or gross. You never know what you're going to get- just like a box of chocolates.
Social Event- Want to socialize while listening to music, or enjoy an entertainment show unlike anything ever seen? Well hit up the social event then, where you can chat it up.
Wandering the Carnival- If you just want to check out the sites or interact with some of the NPCs who are frequenting the carnival, you can use this thread to do just that.
The Undead Petting Zoo- Want to check out a nasty bunch of undead animals? Ever wanted to feel one up? Well then, this is the thread for you. An all ages attraction, sure to entertain those with a bit of a dark sense of humor. Feel free to post up your own pictures!

Special:
The Scavenger Hunt: No one has taken this one up yet and I think it is a shame. When we get three people to join I will begin sending out PMs with a list of twenty semi-randomized items for you to find around the carnival. First person to find all twenty makes off with a big prize: Either 25% of the VB earnings or 50 Prize tickets.

Speaking of Prize tickets-
What are those for exactly? Well, if you take a look at this thread, you can see all manner of available prizes, many from the Genesaris marketplace list and some unique to the Carnival. Ever wanted to have an undead pegicorn? Wish to have a cursed cat or a pocket sized murderous clown? Want to have lunch with yours truly? All are available prizes.

There is still plenty of time left to enjoy the Carnival!

Spinal Chills 2013- Entries have started to come in, but you still have a couple of weeks to get this through. I myself need to finish working on mine- hope I find the time! This was a big hit last year, so make sure you take part. Contest entries are accepted through October the 24th, so get working on your entries and bring in a high level of competition, yeah?

A FABULOUS Wedding- This is a completely open event to any and all characters, so if you want somewhere to go have your character hang out for a bit, why not be a wedding crasher? Only condition they ask for is that you bring some sort of gift- and there is an open challenge to bring something really funny or unusual. This RP takes place in Adaveil, so it is also a chance to play in a new area. Get dressed up and go to town!.

The Venerable game- This is quite the multilayered RP, advertising more than one RP instead of just one. Rather than try to explain all the threads contained, I will just share the tidbit that they are all related in some way and work towards a greater plot. There is a little of something for everyone, so go check it out for yourself.

Chaos Event- Hey, there is something strange in the neighborhood, so who you gonna call? Valucre's finest of course. There is a creeping crawly heading for a Terrenus village and they are in need of some brave characters to come to their aid. Up to 200vb per person for the first five. Two spots filled, can we get three more?

Nightshade Empire Oncoming Storm- A continuation on the Nightshade storyline, this moves into a new chapter on the spreading darkness looking to overtake Terrenus. This is another one of these RP opportunities with so many different possible threads and stories that I would be writing all night if I told you about all of them- so go read what the author has for you (he has put a lot of work into it).

Featured Read of the Week- 

I love doing this section because I get to read some really awesome stuff. Unfortunately, this week I am too swamped to give a thread a thorough read and write-up, so I am going to put this off until next week. Sorry guys- you'll have to wait for another week (It will probably be King again anyway, just saying. >_>)

Lore of the Week!

This Week's Feature: Another section I am skipping on this week. I know, seems lazy, but I am truly backed up. Next week we'll get back on track with a Genesaris Feature. 

Newly Awarded!

No new awards recently- so nothing to report. :(

Congratulations to both members!!!

New Members and Returns!

Normally, I go all out on this. I like to give each new member a personalized hello, to acknowledge them and welcome them to Valucre. This week, I have way too many. Like, way way too many to do even if I was feeling peppier and not in such a rush. Like, you should see my browser tabs-

Yeah, that is something else, no? I think you'll understand why that this week, I am just going to give out one big collective hello.

Welcome, hello, pleased to meet you all. I bid each and every one of you a happy RP experience:

BLyon
Lustless
TheWhiteHaire
AlphaCentaurus
Valcons Claw
Brink
Spiral23
BaebyDucky
Blinking Hotoru
TheReader07
Rima
Technomancer
Bluerrosse
Skeleton
Flynnwar
Shamash
Crassus
Ava
LydiaMartin
Bellatrix
Oroloo
Caracindaecreepy
Mystique
Grim Mystique
Kurr
Let'sfly
Halocint
Boboluu
This Beautiful Disaster
Swgrclan
Isayerzzz
Gypseytails
Daniiimadeofcandy
Kryous
Trouvaille
MommaGunter


Returns:
And a special welcome back to all those who are returning to Valucre!

Drake
Lacernella Rubra
Sorano
Ruski

All told that is THIRTY SIX new folks and four returns, making for a net total of FORTY people the last three weeks. That is incredible! Our average is usually much closer to eight new folks and one to two returns, which means we are about 12-13 people over our average for a three week span. I love it! But now you see why I said this was too much for me to tackle in one night. xP

Other Highlights?

Hah! I am skipping out on sections of the forum and you thought you'd get a set of highlights? Of course I am skipping around this. >>

Closing Thoughts?

What to write, what to write.

I had a nice idea passed along to me a couple weeks ago, but I feel I am still not ready to tackle it. Not for any special reason, just that I feel it deserves more depth and thought than I am prepared to deliver this week- all told, I am running at maybe 60% capacity. It is not terrible- I can write and I can function and I am back at work again- but I am still drained out and just feeling like I am not up to snuff. These bugs I tell you- sometimes they blindside you, especially when you have been lucky enough to avoid being seriously sick for a couple of years.

Back to that question again- what to write, what to write.

Maybe I will just muse here for a bit, since I have nothing special to write about anyway.

I’m getting old.

Yeah, I know, not in a literal sense- not even in my thirties yet, but I’m getting up there nonetheless. Each new year goes by faster than the last and I sometimes think I am going to wake up tomorrow and find out I’m forty years old- rather than just looking it. It’s kind of scary when you really contemplate it: I’m twenty-seven, I still am not 100% sure of what I am doing I am doing with my life and I still haven’t got through college. I have a decent job- one I could make a career out of if I wanted to, but I feel like I could do better than this.

Yeah, a common mantra for the ages I suppose; an oft spoken theme of the millennials- but I’d like to think in my case it is true. I could have gone a different direction when I got out of high school, but things didn’t work out the way I wanted them too. There is a reason for all those quotes about planning and then meeting real life- because real life always has something else in mind and it is not always compatible with what you were planning.

Make do and move on.

I’m finally doing something again. As much as it pains me to pay $126/credit for community college, I am doing just that- I can gripe about the prices and do nothing order I can bite it and at least accomplish something- so that’s what I finally decided to do. I have also been refreshing on my math skills by teaching myself college algebra- found free-recorded lectures by a math professor from some school out east. I’ll CLEP it out and get some cheap credits while I am at it.

It is not much really but it at least feels like I am doing something. I’m moving forward instead of standing still, taking tiny steps rather than keeping my feet firmly planted in the ground and watching everything else whizz past me. Sure, it is not nearly the pace I would like to be moving forward, but it is forward progress nonetheless- has to count for something, right?

What is the point of all this?

Guess I am trying to say that it’s never too late to figure out what you want to do. I had a teacher in high school who did not attend college for the first time until her mid-thirties. She started doing classes when her son was old enough to watch after himself, and worked at a bachelor’s for five years. At nearly forty, she started teaching at my high school as a history teacher. The next year, she began teaching AP classes and at the same time, won a full ride scholarship for her Master’s program. By the time I graduated, she had a master’s degree in history and secondary education, a nearly completed degree in psychology and quite the career ahead of her.

Great teacher too.

She found a way to carve out a new path for herself at a time much later in life- much later than the majority of any of our Valucre members to be sure. If you are like me, hitting the sophomore slump in life and wondering just where the heck you are going, realize that you are by no means alone- this happens to many people (it’s called a quarter-life crisis) and given the age range a bunch of us are- probably happen to a good chunk of our members.

In realizing that you are not alone in navigating these treacherous seas, take solace in the company sharing these uncharted waters and be willing to give some support and receive a little in turn. Never assume it is too late to make a change in the way you are going and in deciding just what you want to do with yourself. It might take some time to even figure out where it might be you want to go (still working on that myself), but if the many people before us are any testament to this life experience- the majority figure something out.

Alright my fellow Valucreans, I am closing this off. Bit skimpy, but it is what I have to give this week. In the meantime, as Rob keeps asking me to remind all you- Don’t forget to be awesome. ;)

-          Acies

"If anything is certain, it is that change is certain. The world we are planning for today will not exist in this form tomorrow.” ~Phil Crosby